The Court of Flowers is opposite to Festival Hall, between the Mines and
Varied Industries Palaces. The first impression, as one comes to it, is
that here is a replica of the colorful Court of Palms. But many
differences become evident after a few moments' study.
The architecture is Italian Renaissance, but of a more richly decorative
sort than in the Court of Palms. There is more overlaid ornament, and on
the whole, less simplicity and quietness and more varied interest. The
columns here are Corinthian, arranged in pairs. The gallery above the
colonnade adds to the suggestion of the sunny South. The Italian Towers,
while similar in feeling to those of the other court, are different in
the arrangement of elements, though equally successful. The color
decoration is again notable.
It is hardly necessary to add that George W. Kelham designed this court
too.
Sculpture. The center of the court is dominated by Edgar Walter's Beauty
and the Beast Fountain. The surmounting statue is a curious combination
of graceful lines and grotesque effects. The strange Beast is no less
fantastic than the young lady herself-she who has adorned her fair
body with nothing more than a Spring hat and a pair of sandals. It is
probably this near-nudeness, without pure nakedness, that creates the
jarring note of the group Certainly there is a bizarre touch that
somewhat offsets the sinuous charm of the figure. Under the upper basin
are four piping Pans, not notable individually, but adding to the
decorative effect. The wall around the lower pool carries a playful
frieze of animals in low relief.
The Pioneer is the title of the equestrian statue at the south end of
the court, on the Avenue of Palms. The man is typically the Western
pioneer, as every resident of the Pacific Coast has known him-a
patriarchal figure who foreran civilization here in the West of America
as he has in all other new lands. Head up, axe and gun in hand, looking
straight forward, he is a fine visualization of the "Forty-niner." He
is, too, an interesting racial contrast to the Indian of "The End of the
Trail." One wonders, however, about the horse, with the elaborate
trappings that clearly belong to another era-to the days of Spanish
conquest, perhaps. Certainly horse and rider do not seem to be conceived
in the same spirit. The group lacks, too, that vital intensity of
feeling and that emotional strength which distinguish "The End of the
Trail," the companion-statue in the Court of Palms. The "Pioneer" is by
Solon Borglum.
The minor sculpture here consists of A. Stirling Calder's attractive
"Flower Girl," repeated in the niches along the loggia; dignified Lions,
by Albert Laessle, flanking the three portals; and again Carl Gruppe's
"The Fairy," atop the Italian Towers.